It is difficult to tell whether Ravi Zacharias was a complete charlatan and a fraud, or whether he was truly sincere and believed the words he said but was living a double life. Ravi's sins were not only ongoing and heavily pre-meditated, but also predatory in nature. As far as we are aware, Ravi went to his death bed completely unrepentant over these sins.
There are several problems I see with Ravi, that apparently nobody else wanted to pay attention to:
First, watch any of his speaking engagements over the past 20 years and note how not once does Ravi ever speak about sin, righteousness, and the judgment to come. Not once!
Second, note how every time he tells his "testimony," there is never mention of being convicted over his sin, his need for Jesus, realizing that Jesus died for him while he was yet a sinner, turning from his sin and putting his wholehearted trust in the Lord. The Gospel was never present in Ravi's "testimony." Instead, when Ravi talked about his "testimony," he did as he always does and told a story. Ravi was a storyteller.
Third, his consistent lack of biblical discernment. Ravi had said that Rick Warren was one of the greatest Bible teachers our age has ever seen. He said that Joyce Meyer was a phenomenal Bible teacher. He said that Hillsong Church and their music are a blessing, and recommended them to others. He attended the Mormon Tabernacle and failed to draw a distinction between their "Jesus" and the Jesus of the Bible, preaching the Gospel to them, but instead referred to them as "brothers and sisters." He attended gatherings where the Pope made the opening address. When asked about transgenderism, Ravi side-stepped the issue. In fact, Ravi would frequently talk much, tell stories, but then never actually answer the questions asked of him. As Ray Comfort has said, you could listen to Ravi in awe, but come away not having a clue what he had just said. The reason being because he never actually said anything. To me, that is one of the poorest examples of an apologist there is.
Fourth, Ravi's theology was extremely cotton-candy-like. He was very much an ecumenicalist. Meeting with cults and false teachers, and praising them up with flattering words.
Because of those things, and because of the ongoing pre-meditated predatory sexual misconduct, it is extremely difficult for me to believe Ravi was ever a genuine convert to Christianity. He may have been. He may have been a Christian who just kept taking baby step after baby step toward sin, and justifying it, until he was so deep in it that he had no clue which way was up and was too proud to confess it because of what it would mean to his ministry. The fact is, Ravi's conduct disqualified him from public ministry a long time ago. But how is he any different from many others who have disqualified themselves and ought to shut their ministries down?
There are several "discernment" ministries and "apologetics" ministries and other ministries whose "celebrity" persona has disqualified himself/herself from ministry. Yet, few of these men/women have stepped down. Even for the rarer few who have confessed to their sin, they have continued trudging on through with their ministry. Why have none of these individuals shut their ministries down, shut their mouths, and sat at the feet of God to learn? Pride! These men/women are arrogant, egotistical, and prideful. They think God needs them, in spite of their egregious sins. I have some words for these leaders...
Get over yourselves!!!
Your ministry is not that important. You are not that important. God can raise up a ministry one hundred times better than yours. God can raise up a minister one hundred times better than you. You are not God's gift to mankind! Neither am I. None of us are.
I have a number of followers (maybe even fans?), and I always try to remind them not to believe something just because I have said it (or anyone else has said it), but to be like the Bereans and "search the Scriptures." I do not want anyone turning me into an idol. I do not want people making me their authority. The Bible is, or should be, our only authority. God may use me to expose its authority to you, and that is good, but do not ever replace Jesus, the Word, and the Spirit with me or anybody else! The only man you should be looking to is the Lord Jesus. He may use me, but I am just a man. I never want people to worship me as a leader. Being some kind of leader is one of my greatest fears, because I am not sure how I would handle it.
If you learn something from me and are drawn into a closer relationship with the Lord Jesus and His Word, then all praise, honour, and glory to God Almighty! I am nothing more than a vessel that He may use for His purposes. I am happy if He uses me at all, and I probably will not know how much He has used me until I get to Heaven. Could you imagine the testimonies that would include my name, all to the glory of God? That is humbling. It reminds me of the lyrics to the song "Thank You" by Ray Boltz.
"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." 1 Corinthians 10:12
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling." Proverbs 16:18